The Prince and His Princess
by EntirelyInsane
Summary: Started out as an ad-lib bedtime story...just a little fluffy Sev/Lily oneshot; takes place the August before they leave to Hogwarts. Enjoy and please review!


The sun shone down on what promised to be another hot summer day. It was the middle of August already; the first of September was rapidly approaching. Lily could hardly believe that in a matter of weeks, she would be on her way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

_Hogwarts._

It was almost too good to be true. At first, she hadn't believed it. A school of magic, after all, really couldn't exist, could it? But she had received her very own letter, just like she had been told, and she had been to Diagon Alley, a wizard street full of shops packed to the brim with things she had never seen before. _Magic_ things. It was beyond anything she had ever imagined. And, more importantly, it was all _real._

Gazing out into the morning from her bedroom window, Lily suddenly caught sight of a familiar figure perched on one of the swings at the park down her street, his black hair hanging long and untrimmed around a pale, thin face. He was wearing an overlarge coat wholly unsuitable for the current weather and certainly didn't look comfortable in it, but Lily smiled upon seeing her friend and, hopping down from the windowsill, she grabbed her shoes from beside her bed, slipped them on, and romped downstairs, calling to her mother that she was going out for a bit to meet a friend. Petunia, overhearing, gave an indignant _hmph!_ through the door of her bedroom, but Lily ignored it for the time being. She felt quite sure that her sister would come around and make up with Lily eventually…

Out the door and down the street Lily walked, the morning air already becoming oppressively warm. Soon enough, she arrived at the little playground and, smiling to herself, she approached the swing set where her friend sat. "Severus!" she finally chirped, when she was near enough for him to hear.

The boy turned around in alarm, taken by surprise at Lily's sudden and unexpected appearance. "L-Lily!" he stammered, and a slight color seemed to flush those pallid cheeks as he took her in.

She smiled at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I – nothing. I mean" – he shot a quick glance at her – "I'm just – well, thinking. You?"

"I'm thinking, too," she said, and hopped up onto the swing beside him, oblivious to the way his hands gripped the chains of the swing so tightly that his knuckles turned even whiter than they already were as she did. "About…Hogwarts, I mean."

"Oh. Me, too." Severus risked another glance at his companion. "What do you think?"

"It's all so strange." Lily absently dragged a sandal-clad foot over the ground below the swings. "I mean, on one hand, I still can hardly believe it's real."

"I know. But you'll see!" The boy's narrow face was eager. "It'll be amazing! It is real, Lily, and you'll love it!" Then he abruptly fell silent and averted his gaze, as if embarrassed.

Still oblivious, Lily went on: "But on the other hand, it's almost as if it's meant to be." Here Severus looked up again, and his eyes seemed to shine with a sort of strange, fierce light. "As if I've belonged there all along, and I'm only just coming home to a home that I didn't know even existed till now."

Severus nodded fervently. "I know _exactly _how you feel. I – I feel the same way. All the time. But it's true, Hogwarts is home. For every witch and wizard out there, Hogwarts _is _like home. It's supposed to be that way, you know."

Lily nodded, lost in thought again. Then she murmured, almost to herself, "But Severus, I'm a little worried…I won't know anyone. We…we'll still be friends at Hogwarts, won't we?"

_Friends_.

Severus chose to ignore the shiver that crept its way down his shine despite the heat. "Yes," he avowed, "I'll always be your friend, Lily. And…and you'll always be mine. My friend."

She grinned at this, and Severus even felt a smile twist his thin lips. Feeling suddenly very brave, he continued a little hesitantly, "Lily…do you want to take a walk? I mean – just a little one, if you don't mind – we could talk about Hogwarts, if you like, if you want…"

"Yes!" Lily leapt off the swing, landing lightly on the asphalt of the playground. "Tell you what, Severus – there's a nice little path I know of; it goes through the trees that way." She pointed. "It's lovely in there. Can we walk through there?"

"If you want." He slid off the swing, also.

"Yes, let's." She held out her hand amiably. "C'mon, Severus, let's go!"

Severus stared at her outstretched arm for a moment, then slowly, uncertainly took it. Her fingers were warm and reassuring in his. Feeling happier than he had in months, he nodded and replied, "Yes, let's go."

Ten minutes later found the two children strolling along the shady path. Lily was enthralled by the beauty of it all: the flowers dotting the sides of the path that she stopped to admire every few seconds, the butterflies flitting lazily between them, the overhanging greenery, and the way the light shone through the trees just so, dappling the path with patches of green light. As for Severus, he was quite content admiring the beauty of the Lily walking beside him, and he was admittedly also quite glad that she seemed to be too caught up to notice how his eyes were constantly following her every move.

Then Lily uttered an "Ooh!" and fell to her knees on the edge of the path in front of a particularly stunning bunch of flowers. "Oh, Severus, look at these ones! Aren't they the prettiest ones you've seen yet?"

Severus crouched beside her and agreed immediately, although he was thinking that there was something else he had been watching that was prettier by far. "Here," he said with uncharacteristic softness, and, reaching out, he plucked one of the delicate white flowers from its stem and handed it to Lily. "For you," he said, his eyes shining with a sort of shy eagerness.

Lily, finding both his action and words endearing (and again failing to notice his expression), cooed over the blossom. "Oh, Severus, it's beautiful. Thank you." Then, with a sudden bubbling laugh, she exclaimed: "I have to give you one, now, too!" And accordingly, she bent closer to the flowers, analyzing them, her fine little nose only inches from the soft petals, until finally, with a quiet "aha!" she extracted one and held it out proudly to the anxious boy beside her.

Surely, she had selected the biggest, finest flower of them all. As she handed it to Severus adoringly, their fingers lingering together, he felt the warm flush rise in his cheeks again and was thankful for the half-light of their spot. He looked down at the flower, which took up his entire palm as it laid in his hand. "Thank you, too, Lily," he murmured. "It is a very beautiful flower."

She giggled again. Severus, struck by inspiration, lifted his head again and ventured, "Here, let me try something, Lily." He took the flower from between her fingers and slowly, carefully, and oh-so-gently, raised it to her hair and tucked it behind her ear, painstakingly making sure every single hair there was in place, perfect. Lily watched his face, fascinated, as he bit his bottom lip in concentration. Then, "There," he finally announced, and drew back, clasping his hands together to hide the fact that they were trembling.

Lily fingered the flower, eyes shining. "How do I look, Severus?" She stuck a pose, holding her head high.

"Really nice. Like a princess." Severus grinned. Lily smiled back, and he realized just how accurate his statement was. The white blossom against her fiery, dark hair brought out the paleness of her skin, and set her green eyes off beautifully. She was indeed a princess. _His_ princess.

"I really do love these flowers," she sighed, resting her chin in one hand. "Don't you?"

"Yeah, I do. I mean" – he paused slightly before continuing – "they're lilies, you know. Lilies for Lily. It makes sense that you like them."

"Oh!" She laughed again, and Severus had to laugh as well. "I suppose that does make perfect sense, Severus. Lilies. Mmm…" She bent her head to the remaining flowers to breathe in their scent again. Then she looked back at Severus, grinning again. "Now you have to do something special with your lily, Severus! Please?"

"Okay." Severus held out the lily in his palm, balancing it carefully, and stared at it long and hard. The petals began to open and close and move around.

"Severus," Lily breathed, "what are you doing?"

"Wait and see. Magic." He bit his lip again in concentration, frowning, black eyes focused on the white flower.

Then, gracefully, perfectly, the petals fell into a new shape and there, blossoming in his hand, was a delicate white heart, made from the petals of the lily. The Lily beside him gasped in wonder and joy, green eyes wide.

"There." Severus looked back up at Lily, and, finally, she noticed the light in his eyes, an emotion she couldn't name. "It's a heart. For you – for us. It means that I'm yours. Always."


End file.
